Saving Leslie
by Advicant
Summary: That fateful morning when Jess receives a call from his teacher, the life-changing choice that could mean the death of his best friend, and true love. Can Jess save Leslie? and ultimately, save Terabithia.
1. Chapter 1

Saving Leslie

Jesse Oliver Aarons sat on his bed doodling in his sketch book idly; it was a normal Saturday morning for him, he looked forward to meeting with his best friend Leslie Burke, like every Saturday. He smiled at the thought of her, he had recently become close friends with the new girl who had moved to the town, and they had a lot in common, especially now that they had started regularly visiting 'Terabithia', their special place.

Jess was startled as his little sister May Belle entered the room with a bounce. She held a telephone in her hand, grinning at Jess with a playful smirk. "Jess! I called you three times! It's your girlfriend!" Jess sighed and snatched the phone from his sister with a roll of his eyes. "She's not my girlfriend!" Jess held the phone to his ear with a smile and spoke into the receiver. "Hey", "Hello, Jess", Jess raised an eyebrow and held the phone closer to his ear. "Wait, who is this?" He was met with the same voice again, but it wasn't Leslie's, like he had expected. "It's Saturday, but it's your teacher, Ms. Edmunds. I was planning on taking my nephews into the city, to the museum, and my sister changed her plans last minute so I had a thought" Jess raised an eyebrow in thought. He had promised Leslie that he would meet her today; Jess always kept his promises, and the fact that he had recently become aware of his ever growing love for his friend had compelled him ever further.

"I'm sorry Miss... I already made plans today…" Jess sighed, not wanting to seem impolite to his favourite teacher. "Ah, I see. Well then, have a good day Jess" with that, Ms. Edmunds hung up on him. Jess scratched the back of his head and shuffled the drawings scattered around his bed into a neat pile. He slid himself off his bed and carried the telephone downstairs to where his sisters, Ellie, Brenda, and Joyce were having breakfast. Jess placed the telephone on the table and grabbed the pair of hand-me-down sneakers he had scribbled on. He pulled them on his feet and grabbed a piece of toast from Ellie's plate, receiving an ill-mannered shout and a slap on the hand. He chuckled and turned to May Belle who was currently standing in the doorway. "Tell mom and dad I'll be back for dinner!", with that, Jess opened the front door into the cool, brisk, morning air.

Jess rubbed his hands together and jumped from foot to foot in an attempt to warm up in the chilly outdoors. He walked down the path from his house at a brisk pace, coming out into the muddy lane where Leslie's house stood opposite his. Jess began to stroll towards her house, his face lighting up with a grin as he spotted the blonde tomboy stepping out of her house, his heart did jumping-jacks, beating within his body with a wave of warmth rushing over him like he couldn't describe. He waved to his female friend with excitement, watching her as she ran over to him grinning, being her usual bright self. "Hey there, Jess! Leslie giggled and patted her friend lightly on the shoulder. "H-Hey!" Jess chuckled and cleared his throat, shaking his nervousness away, but blushing slightly at his friends touch. Leslie smiled warmly at the other as she put a backpack over her shoulders, having prepared lunch for them beforehand. "You ready Jess? The people of Terabithia are depending on us to save them from the Dark Master!"


	2. Chapter 2

Jess nodded and grinned slightly, gazing down the long muddy path that led to their destination. "I'll race you to the end of the road!" Leslie chuckled and grinned back, accepting the challenge of a good race, being the fastest girl in her grade. "Alright then! On your marks, get set, go!" Leslie shot off before Jess had time to register what was happening, but surely enough he caught up. The pair sprinted down the track neck and neck, passing through a rickety old fence that separated the field from the road, and carrying on along the short-cut grass, and down the slope that led to the woods. They stopped sharply and grinned at each other, breathing heavily as Jess wiped the sweat from his brow. Leslie sighed and frowned slightly until Jess looked at her. "What's the matter?" Jess raised an eyebrow and turned to face his friend. "We forgot PT!" Leslie frowned again and slowly walked forward, giving herself time to recover from their run. Jess had given the dog to Leslie as a gift in return for the art set she had bought him for his birthday. 'Prince Terrian, Troll Hunter Extraordinaire', PT for short.

Jess and Leslie finally reached the creek, the gap between their world, and the Terabithians. The only thing they could use to get across, was the ancient old rope swing that hung from an overlooking branch. Jess never trusted the rope, it seemed to get more worn down every time they visited, but he just shrugged it off due to Leslie's protests that it is perfectly safe. He sat down on the large, moss-covered log that they used to swing to the other side, Leslie following him with an excited look in her eye. It was an adventure every time they went to Terabithia; that's what made it special between them. The female grabbed a large stick from the side of the tree and made a grab for the rope, Jess watching her carefully as she did so. Jess had an uneasy feeling in his gut, he still thought back to earlier when he had rejected his teachers offer, knowing it would be wrong of him to stand Leslie up, even if Ms. Edmunds was his old crush.

His daydream was cut short when Leslie climbed up onto the log next to him, the rope in her hands with the usual excited glint in her eye which made Leslie, Leslie. Jess looked up at her just in time to catch her eye, a smile coming across his face as he met the gaze of his love. Even though Jess was only 11 years old, he felt butterfly's in his stomach every time he saw Leslie. It was strange though, he only really realised his feelings for her the last time he had seen her, waving to him in the pouring rain, PT in her arms as he stood there, just watching her. Since then he couldn't stop thinking about her, no wonder May Belle always teased him about it. He also admired Leslie's family, wishing he was close to his Mother and Father as she was with hers. Meeting Leslie was a blessing, he just never allowed himself time to think about it that way.

Leslie suddenly broke the gaze, preparing herself for the swing. "See you on the other side, Jess!" with that, Jess had a horrible, foreboding feeling rise inside him as his one true love, and the best friend he had always wanted, took off from the log, like any normal Saturday where they would visit Terabithia. He caught sight of Leslie's expression, joyful, enjoying the brilliant feeling of flying through the air. But that's when the rope caught his attention. The material started to fray and snap, getting shorter and shorter until Leslie herself realised what was happening. By then, it was too late.


	3. Chapter 3

Jess gasped and darted forward, but by then it was way too late. Leslie screamed as the rope suddenly snapped with a sharp crackle, the momentum of the swing being half way across causing her to not fall, but shoot straight ahead, right into the wet wall of mud that marked the other side. She gasped as she held her hands out in front of her, however, this didn't stop her from hitting her head on one of the protruding rocks, and knocking her unconscious, right into the raging river that had been stirred up by the recent bad weather. "No!" Jess yelled at her, his mind racing, the adrenaline pumping through his veins, this was a worst case scenario; he wasn't prepared for something like this despite knowing something bad would happen. He weighed the chances of help arriving any time soon, and it seemed slim. She was bleeding from her head, and would drown before anyone would hear his cries for help.

Jess suddenly came to a decision in that 3 seconds, this was up to him; he wouldn't let her die, not now, not ever, his love for her drove him on and gave him the strength and emotional power to take a step forward and throw himself off the edge after his best friend. Jess gritted his teeth as a foot left the edge, the freezing cold embrace of the muddy river enveloping him as he made the daring jump. Leslie wasn't moving, this worried him greatly, if he didn't get to her in time, she'd bleed, freeze, or drown. Jess didn't have time to think of the possibilities, Jess knew Leslie was a good swimmer, but this wasn't going to help now. He threw himself forward, breathing heavily as he hurled his arms over his head one after the other. The river seemed to be flowing in Jess's direction, this was an advantage. He managed to grab the edge of Leslie's coat, but couldn't hold on. He swore under his breath, his heart pounding. "Come on Jess… come on!" with one final burst of speed, he wrapped his arms around Leslie to keep her afloat.

Jess gasped and coughed as he swallowed some of the dirty water in his struggle, he brought Leslie closer to him, attempting to transfer his body heat to her to stop her body temperature from plummeting. He placed his mouth to her ear, and tried the most drastic measure he could think of. "Please Leslie… wake up… we can get through this! Please! I know you can hear me… I love you…" The last thing he heard and saw, was shouts and stamping of feet, what sounded like two men and a woman coming down the path, before he blacked out. Several things seemed to happen while he was unconscious: he heard the slur of speech, loud footsteps, an ambulance siren, shouting, the clashing of feet with muffled voices above him, and finally, a soft bleeping noise as he slowly sunk further and further into a deep sleep.

Leslie slowly awoke with a faint groan, her vision extremely blurry at first, but then seemed to focus in. She was staring at Jess. "Doctor, she's awake" Leslie blinked twice; there, eyes closed, facing the ceiling, was the boy she fell in love with one rainy day. His arm was extended and he was holding Leslies hand. She suddenly remembered, the rope snapping, the blinding pain as she collided with the rock, slowly slipping into unconsciousness, and a voice; a very faint and barely understandable voice that seemed to come from right next to her. A tear formed in the corner of her eye as she remembered what Jess had done for her. Leslie lowered her head and squeezed Jess's hand. He seemed to be deeply unconscious as she slipped her hand away and prepared herself for the worrying and the problems her recklessness had caused. "Mr and Mrs Aarons, I'm sorry.. Jess entered into a coma as we rushed him in, he could be asleep for a long time…"


End file.
